It’s time to flail over another fabulous Aussie YA author!

Whom I love. Her first two books, Life in Outer Space and The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl, are two of my ultimate Aussie YA favourites. Probably because they were about writers and people who like cupcakes. #RELATABLE So I had high expectations for The Secret Science of Magic. And while it was a great book, it did fail for me in several aspects. I was pretty confused as to (A) the characters’ reasonings and motivations, and (B) exactly what the book was trying to say. It just felt like it didn’t quite get there.

But like it was super enjoyable and I LOVED the characters and the dialogue. Plus it’s about a dorky magician boy and an academically genius math girl. And I laughed quite a lot at the levels of adorkable nerdiness. So a win.

#WIN FOR THE MATHEMATIC DOG.

Absolutely super cute dual-narrating protagonists

Sophia is of Sri Lankan descent

Such super cute and fantastic sibling relationships

Joshua had a lisp

Magical card tricks which are actually my favourite and I’ve been teaching myself some from youtube and I’m OBVIOUSLY A PRO AT IT AFTER TWO TRICKS

Excellent and engaging writing.

The kind of wondrous banter that had me snickering appreciatively.

CAMEOS!!!! The absolute best cameos ever from Sam and Camilla from Life In Outer Space. I fully admit to grinning like an INSANE DORK when they came on the scene and I 100% need to reread LIOS.

Great female friendships!!

There were a few things that bothered me however.

Namely: (1)the fact that I really didn’t understand a lot of what the book WAS TRYING TO SAYYYYYY. Which could be on me and not the book?! And (2)it seemed painfully obvious that Sophia was on the Autism spectrum but the book didn’t talk about it. At all.

I guess a lot of people are anti-labels or perhaps the author didn’t want to talk about Autism in case of misrepresenting it?? These are things I UNDERSTAND. But at the same time, I can’t help thinking it’s a bit of ASD erasure? Especially when at the end, everyone just says that Sophia has social anxiety + is just super smart. The end. NO NOT REALLY???? I almost feel like the book didn’t know how to fully write a correct and complex ASD person, so it just used part of the symptoms (ie: inability to understand facial expressions, precociously smart at a young age, social ineptitude, high anxiety, and inability to understand sarcasm), ditched the other (lesser stereotyped) parts and wouldn’t mention the word at all. It’s possibly I am wildly misinterpreting this of course. But I think it’s sad that Sophia was criticised for things she could. not. help by family and friends…when understand, a diagnosis, and tALKING about it (or even therapy)would’ve made the world of difference. The book said different is good, but it also kind of went with “but you don’t need help, just love yourself!” when Sophia CLEARLY needed help AS WELL. Asking for help is not a failure. She was so miserable and needed to understand herself + have family understand her. It was all very…depressing to me???

Buuuuut again: maybe the author never intended for her to be on the Autism spectrum.

Plus I feel like I didn’t really understand things by the end.

Apparently Joshua wanted to “save” Sophia??? WOAH. When was that there?!? He had a crush on her that he just obsessed over, but I never got the impression that he was in love with her to “change her”. I thought he JUST HAD A CRUSH. And then at the end he’s apologising for all this stuff that I did. not. see. on. the. page. at. all. It bothers me?!

SPOILERS

And then I don’t understand why their relationship exploded?! They went to a party, Sophia kissed Joshua…she ran away aaaaand then they were broken up. LIKE WHAT DID I MISS, GOOD SIR. Josh had to apologise but…she kissed him!? I can’t see their relationship lasting and I honestly don’t ship them. They had no communication. And that has nothing to do with Sophia’s potential Autism (Josh could’ve been on the spectrum too, actually…he had TONS of diagnosable aspects), because they NEVER talked properly. I’ve read this in a ton of other books too. I’m sooooour because it’s just so frustrating.

Also in the end Josh just gave up magic. I AM SO SAD I LITERALLY CAN’T EVEN. SOPHIA RUINED HIS LOVE OF MAGIC AND THAT WAS THE END FOR HIM.

There’s also instalove and NO parents in the storyline at all. Josh’s storyline couldn’t exist without his infatuation over Sophia which made him kind of bland at the end. And Sophia had more chapters!! That’s not fair!! And I’m still not sure what the messages were because they all felt so mixed.Be different. But only sometimes?! If you can’t relate to others, you should apologise for it?!? And I don’t know if it was saying academia is pointless or good?? School is a waste of time or possibly helpful?? Don’t be alone but DO be alone if you want. I think the book is having an existential crisis and NOW I AM TOO.

Don’t get me wrong though: I really did enjoy this book!

I loved the writing and the diversity and the cast of adorable and loveable characters! I adored Josh and his intense levels of DORK and his sharply scary little sister was the best thing. I loved the romance at first and how it was all secret card tricks and magical folded roses! And it asks that question all teens ask: WHAT THE HEEECK DO I DOOOOO AFTER HIGHSCHOOL. #relatable

Plus any book that says that different is good and you don’t need to change that, is obviously smart.

THANK YOU TO HARDIE GRANG EGMONT FOR THE ARC. The Secret Science of Magic by Melissa Keil was published April, 2017.

★★★☆☆

Sophia is smart, like genius-calculator-brain smart. But there are some things no amount of genius can prepare you for, and the messiness of real life is one of them. When everything she knows is falling apart, how can she crack the puzzle of what to do with her life? Joshua spends his time honing magic tricks and planning how to win Sophia’s heart. But when your best trick is making schoolwork disappear, how do you possibly romance a genius? In life and love, timing is everything.

have you ever read a book that you weren’t SURE what it was trying to say?? also have you read this one?! or any other excellent Aussie YA recently?? lemme know aaaall in the comments!

WELL. It’s that time again…yes, you know what I mean. Time for me to have a little rant with #minireviews (with their bite sized deliciousness) of various books I haven’t loved lately. I always feel rather grumpy when I dislike a book because I want to like all the books!

But I don’t. So here we go.

THE ALEX CROW by Andrew Smith

Either I’m incredibly stupid, or this book is. And I’m pretty sure I’m awesome, sooo I’m going to go out on a limb here and say this book was weeeeird. I spent the entire time thinking, “WHAT AM I MISSING? WHAT IS THIS?” It felt like the most random combination of words in the English language, stuffed into a book, and sprinkled with sci-fi. But seriously, I have no idea what the actual heck this book is.

I originally wanted to read it because I thought it was about the Middle East. WRONG. Well, the main character, Ariel, is from the middle East and survived a massacre. But he’s been adopted into a family in America and (along with his adopted brother) goes to this really weird “camp” to get away from technology. They basically hike and chop wood and hate everything. And their hormonal little pitiful brains reside in the gutter and make me despair of humanity’s intelligence.

I don’t even know how to explain the weirdness of the writing. Some chapters were from the 1800s (?!) and some chapters were just a convoluted mess of the alphabet that had nothing to do with Ariel + boys + summer camp. My brain REJECTED. There were chapters from a “melting man” running around talking to polar bears while driving a U-Haul. And there was something about a crow. A talking crow? Is the crow an experiment? BECAUSE, HECK, LET’S ADD IN SOME SCI-FI ELEMENTS TOO.

Like this. And I have no idea what this means:

Here is Joseph Stalin telling the melting man what he had to do. Joseph Stalin’s voice came from the air vents on the dashboard of the melting man’s recycled U-Haul moving vane. Joseph Stalin also spoke to the melting man through the radio.

Peoples, I read this whole book and I still have no idea what he’s freaking talking about. IS THIS WHOLE BOOK IN CODE?! WHAT AM I MISSING?

If you have a black and white brain, probably don’t read this. Maybe it’s just me, but this book made NO SENSE. My brain shut down after 30-pages and I swam through purple pineapple soup to finish.

LULLABY by Bernard Beckett

WHAT DID I EVEN JUST READ?!! This definitely goes down as one of the oddest books ever. I confess, the heinous cover completely turns me off. The book itself isn’t so bad, but the cover makes it look like a baby shampoo commercial, possibly from the 80s. Is it worth reading despite the horrendous cover? Yup. It is. It’s weird, but I have to admit I couldn’t put it down.

So the book opens up with Rene in hospital making some big unknown “decision” regarding his brain-dead identical twin brother. You don’t get to know what the accident was or what the decision is — you just know that Rene is only 18 and making a life-or-death-or-change choice for his brother. It’s very mysterious and entirely intriguing. Although the tension wasn’t exceptionally handled. It’s basically entirely TOLD instead of shown. About 90% of the book is Rene and a therapist talking. Which is…different? Unique? Yeah but…WHERE ARE THE ACTUAL SCENES WERE CHARACTERS DO THINGS?!! Call me a dilapidated pineapple frond (actually don’t, I might get offended) but I reeeeally like scenes were characters DO stuff. Not just reflect on it.

OTHER STUFF THAT DIDN’T SIT WELL WITH ME:

It gets pretty psychological which goes — wheesht — over my head.

The operation feels…unrealistic. Like it goes from being a contemporary and then the last 20 pages — BOOM IT’S SCI FI NOW.

I don’t even think it said what Theo’s even accident was.

The therapist was like the WORST therapist ever.

I didn’t really feel sorry for Rene or Theo, which is a problem. (But I’m also a coldhearted Vulcan, so there’s that.)

But seriously, I couldn’t turn pages fast enough toward the end. I had this buuuuurning desire to KNOW THE ANSWERS. and then the last 10-pages are quite shocking and really well done. It’s a wildly open ending. I think this book is designed to make you think about what makes us ourselves and all sorts of other deep and philosophical questions.

Basically, it’s a psychological cacophony of questions and intrigue. While it dabbles in the sci-fi spectrum, it’s still pretty much a brotherly-relationship contemporary. It didn’t rock my world, but then capsicum doesn’t change my life and I still eat it. That totally makes sense. Don’t question it.

Oh, and a little perspective on this one? My friend Emily loved it. It’s one of those books you really need to read to properly understand the weirdness.

-~-

have you read either of these books? have you read Andrew Smith before and, if so, EXPLAIN ALL TO ME, I BEG YOU. do you like books that are really open to interpretation or are you a more of just-say-it-plainly sort of reader? (like me!) do you like my epic mug? (the correct answer is: yes)

Today is MINI BOOK REVIEW DAY!

Which is a day kind of like mini pizza day*, but, unfortunately, not as tasty in your mouth. I’m doing only mini reviews, instead of going the whole hog, because I wasn’t particularly fussed on a lot of these books. I don’t have copious thoughts about them! SO. I’ll give you the low-down and you can decide whether to eat** or not.

Thank you Scholastic, Hardie Grant Egmont, and Hot Key Books for the review-copies!

* This isn’t actually a blog thing yet, but it totally could be. I could eat pizza and then blog about it.** It’s lunchtime as I’m writing this and I’m freakishly hungry, okay?? Food is on my brain.

Followers by Anna Davies

Firstly, the blurb is wrong for this book. So don’t read it too closely because…it just doesn’t happen in the book. Secondly, where are the police?! I believe but who knows, maybe I’m completely wrong when there are suspicious, multiple deaths, the police should look into the case. BUT NO! There is not one cop asking questions in this whole book. The attitude is “Oh, dead body? Clean up on aisle 12.” THAT IS SO VERY WRONG AND NOT EVEN LOGICAL OR REALISTIC. Plus, after the first girl dies, no one even cares. NO ONE. They say, “Oh well, it was just her.” Like, good thing it wasn’t an important character. It made me kind of sick how complacent everyone was in the face of death. Is everyone a psychopaths? I think, yes.

This is how they talk about the dead girl:

“Andi. Yes. That was unfortunate.” (pg. 108)

Then there was Briana’s psychotic parents. I believe her mother was just supposed to be a very pushy, animated person who was eager for her daughter to be an actress. But, I’m sorry, I think the mother was psychotic. (Although this was never ever fleshed out or addressed.) There was this scene:

I felt like I did when I was a kid and learning how to swim when my mom had pushed me into the water. I remember sputtering, trying to breathe, feeling the liquid all around me. I’d finally kicked my way to the surface when I felt two strong hands underneath my armpits. “What were you doing?” Dad had yelled angrily. “She needed to get out of her head,” Mom had replied. “See, she’s fine when she doesn’t think.”(pg. 166)

Mm..yes, your daughter is fine when she’s drowning in a pool and not thinking. Should you be in a straight jacket, woman?

I was absolutely not okay with this book. It wasn’t scary. It wasn’t well written. And frankly it was frustrating with contradictions and illogical events.

Wickedpedia by Chris Van Etten

Again, the blurb doesn’t sum up what actually happens. That really bothers me, okay?! Blurbs aren’t supposed to lie! This one is actually grisly. Blood everywhere, style. Horrible? Yes. Scary? Not really. Most of the deaths were insanely random and unbelievable at times…and seriously gross. I wasn’t impressed, but at least it was legitimately horror.

The killer? GUESSED IT.My deducing skills are obviously amazing. I just have this knowledge of things. That or it was super obvious and that’s a shame. I only have one question: aren’t there people moderating Wikipedia so spammy pages can’t exist? Maybe I’m wrong…but I always thought it was hard to write rubbish and not have it edited out. But what would I know? I’m a good person and wouldn’t write lies on the internet. Also, tip for future reference: if you want to make a spammy user name, probably don’t anagram your real name, okay?

Circus of the Unseen by Joanne Owen

If you’re looking for a creepy circus book that won’t traumatise you but will definitely make you shiver: here be it. The story was dark, but I felt the tone was quite placid and light that it could probably be an MG. (I searched for an actual age of Rosie, but couldn’t find one. She felt 13??)

It’s got all the trimmings of the freaky carnival. You know the drill…weird clowns, freaky witches, creepy children, death defying tricks. There are 3 parts. At the beginning of each is this snippet of a Polish fairy tale about Vasilia and her magical doll. I loved those bits. It felt like Cinderella, but with this magical/creepy doll doing all the work instead. It’s an interesting book, but not very memorable. It feels like it followed the trail of any Creepy Circus Book. The Polish influences were awesome. The writing felt a little bland, and most of the side characters were actually more intriguing than the main-character, Rosie. But the cover? I LOVE IT.

Paper Planes by Joanne Owen

This book is perfect for 10-12 year olds and is pretty educational about the Bosnia war in the 90s. I’ve read a LOT of Historical Fiction books aimed at this age category (I kind of grew up on them), so I wasn’t opposed to reading a book that was “technically” too young for me. It was written very clearly and easily. My real problem was the narrator: Niko. The kid was 12, but he honestly felt 9 or 10 years old. What kind of 12 year old boy doesn’t know what shrapnel or snipers are??! He seemed entirely clueless about everything. He was supposed to portray innocence, I get that, but I felt (for his age) he was too clueless. He was also a victim of the whole book. Niko does nothing that affects the future, like most kids’ HF books I’ve read. (Like I Am David for instance or The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. They have active roles in their books.) He was a victim of circumstance the whole time and it was uninteresting.

State of Grace by Hilary Badger

This was a really different book. It just took me a while to get with the flow. It’s like The Program meets The Giver meets Searching for Sky. Instead of “dystopian” it’s “utopian”…they’re trying to make a perfect world. OKAY. COOL. But since it was all so heavily based on their religion (their god is “Dot”) and weird phrases (like instead of “bad” they say “pregood”) it took me the first 50% to even feel involved.

The narrator, Wren, only ever talked about hooking up. ARGH. She literally had no other wish in life. Just happiness, swimming, and sex. I totally get what the book was doing, and I guess that definition (sex and swimming?) is happiness to some people. But I just got tired of Wren looking at every boy with two legs and thinking, “Maybe I’ll hook up with him? No…maybe him!” But it was still a very interesting book with intensely thought-provoking concepts.How far would humans go to get happiness?

okay, my fantastic fishy friends, have you read any of these? thoughts? preferences? if you’re at all interested in them, I still recommend checking them out! just because I didn’t like it, doesn’t mean YOU’LL agree with me. and 3 of these books are rather horror themed. since it’s halloween for those who do it tell me: what makes a GOOD horror to you? do you prefer psychological or gory? and, the BIG question: do you like mini pizzas?

Cait feels bad for not particularly liking any of these books. She wants to like ALL THE BOOKS. But these ones particularly sunk her boat. She is currently (as you know already) thinking about lunch and sandwiches and also NaNo, which is in, like, 1 day. She is prepared, but November is looking to be a VERY busy month so…it’s concerning. Currently, she’s reading CITY OF LOST SOULS and thinks Jace needs a slap.

You probably know this already, but let’s yell it to the wild anyway, shall we?

I am a Lemony Snicket fan.

I am, perhaps, ten years too old, but I don’t even care. I collected his first series avidly and, yes, I was off to a late start with his new spin-off series (about Snicket himself and his journey into VFD!) but I am equally addicted. Not obsessed. Just healthily addicted.

Can you look me straight in the eye and tell me you don’t care what VFD stands for? CAN YOU?! If you read A Series of Unfortunate Events (about the misfortunate lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire) then you need to know what VFD stands for.

…Aaaaand, I will not be telling you. So (because you’re deadly curious about the infamous VFD, as was I) you absolutely need this book in your life. You’ve been told. Shoo now.

*Although I did cautiously glare at the page when I read it because I don’t believe it. There have been so many red and purple and orange herrings I don’t even know what to think anymore. Do I trust Mister L. Snicket? Not really.

I’m kidding. Stay here a moment. I have other things I wish to say.

Important things!

Like: Sarcasm.

Lemony Snicket (the 13-yaer-old version particularly) is the master of very dry sarcasm. The adults of his world have senses of humour as developed as a small seed — that is to say: NONE. So Snicket is wickedly sarcastic and no one even notices.

“And I’d rather not have that kid around here either,” her husband said.“I’d rather not have you call me a kid,” I said.“I’d rather not have my apprentice talk like that to the police,” Theodora said.“I’d rather not listen to my husband boss people around,” Mimi Mitchum said.“Sorry,” I said, “is it my turn? I have a long list of things I’d rather not do.”

It’s a very particularly strain of humour, and it always cracks me up. Like the scene of Josephine’s cameo (yes! Josephine from The Wide Window book #3 of A Series of Unfortunate Events):

Josephine caught my eye and gave me a signal we’d used for years to indicate that one of us had to leave. The signal was mouthing the words “I have to leave” and pointing at the door.

What? Leave me alone in my giggling hilarity.

Other Things I Deign to Tell You:

– The adults are all rather stupid and the children are brilliant.– We still don’t know what the S stands for in Theodora S. Markson.– Everyone insists on calling Lemony a “little boy”, just to annoy him.– Lemony continues to butt heads with the stupid bully, Stew Mitchum, and gets in some golden comebacks.– Lemony also gets his head hit in by said bully.– I ship Lemony and Moxie, the reporter.– Count Olaf has a cameo.– Someone is going to do something nefarious to the children in the school. But what is it?– And shouldn’t you be in school?

I’m pretty sure Lemony Snicket can do no wrong.

This is another work of brilliance, sarcasm, and delicious breakfasts. And the fourth and final book comes out next year…which is quite sad. I was hoping for another 13-book series. Why hasn’t Beatrice been mentioned?? Why does Lemony have such a thing against coffee??I DON’T THINK ANYONE SHOULD BE IN SCHOOL.

Thank you Hardie Grant AUS for the review-copy!

Is Lemony Snicket a detective or a smoke detector?Do you smell smoke? Young apprentice Lemony Snicket is investigating a case of arson but soon finds himself enveloped in the ever-increasing mystery that haunts the town of Stain’d-by-the-Sea. Who is setting the fires? What secrets are hidden in the Department of Education? Why are so many schoolchildren in danger? Is it all the work of the notorious villain Hangfire? How could you even ask that? What kind of education have you had?Maybe you should be in school?

okay, blogglings, tell me you’ve read something by Lemony Snicket before?! YOU HAVE RIGHT?! do you prefer his first series, or this spin-off? and also: do you think it’s possible to grow out of children’s books? (and aren’t these quotes the best?!)

Cait has been asked this famed question of “shouldn’t you be in school” multiple times in her life because…she never was in school. (Homeschooled, yes.) It is definitely the WRONG question. The right question to ask her (any time, if you like) is “do you work in a organisation that keeps secrets and spies on people”. You will like the answer to that one better. She just finished reading THE SCORCH TRIALS.

My ARC of this is unbound.

Peoples, I don’t know why, but this causes me a) great excitement and b) freakish fangirling. I basically cradled this book while I read it because I didn’t want to wreck it! There’s something oh-so-fresh about a book without a cover. Like it went straight from the author’s desk to mine! Okay, okay, humour me…it didn’t, I just like to think that.

This is the 9th book I’ve read by Michael Grant.

Am I a little addicted? HA. Of course not. No, no, I just have a mild interest in all things creepy and strange…which Michael Grant happens to writes with perfection. Seriously, the dude is master of imagination. Creepy and weird and scary imagination.

The things he comes up with? Nightmarish.

Which suits his new book just fine.

How to describe Messenger of Fear? Um…scary?

Okay, I get it… More original? It’s phenomenal.Yes, I’m a little biased because I am a huge fan of the Gone series (I’ve ever reread some of the books and I never ever reread. Goes to show: I like it). Messenger of Fear gets contemporary and supernatural and horror and smushes them together and HUZZAH — you have 300-pages of a mind twisty adventure.

It starts off with mist and confusion and where-the-heck am I.

We get to piece the story together as we go. Our narrator, a bonnie lass named Mara, meets this creepy ageless dude called Messenger. Of, you know, unfortunately he’s a messenger of fear. He’s a bit standoffish. But he’s actually nice! Don’t let the coat with skull buttons put you off! The dude is actually thoughtful and I quite liked his quiet mysteriousness.

Mara is…memoryless. She’s a steady, no-nonsense kind of character, pretty smart, Asian, and relatively calm. Until she realises that she’s apprenticed to the Messenger and a) learns what terrible things he does, as well as b) discovers she’s supernatural now. Walk through walls. Pop around time. All that funky stuff. When she figures out she’s his apprentice? Well…then she busts out sobbing. I liked Mara, but I liked Messenger more.

The writing is typical Grant style.

It’s a little heavier on the description than Gone, but if you want my private opinion? (Pfft, you’re here. Of course you do.) I think the it’s his best-written book yet! I couldn’t put it down! Two sittings! That’s all it took me to eat it up. Crisp and to-the-point and interesting.

And it’s not just supernaturally beings popping around dishing out judgment.

It’s specifically zooms in on bullied girl, Samantha, and a few other people and the Big Mistakes they make which brings Messenger popping into their lives. It’s horrible, but I wouldn’t say gruesome. And I can’t really tell you what the Messenger does because, duh, SPOILERS. I went into this basically with no idea what it would be about. That was perfect.

But, but, but! One thing I absolutely loved was this girl, Samantha, was a writer! She wrote a book at 16 and had a deal with HarperCollins. Even NaNoWriMo is mentioned! Ohhh, that just makes me happy for some reason. Then, sorry, The Terrible Thing Occurs. And you may gnash your teeth.

Then there’s this twist at the end. THERE IS THIS AMAZING TWIST.

I…I’m still blown away. I want to flail. Can I flail?

Thanks. I’m a little calmer now. (HA. As if.) In the last 50 pages I guessed it, and it was so incredibly perfect, I just wanted to hug the book. I didn’t. (Because it has no cover, so I’m being gentle.) But I was freakishly impressed.

I love this book so much, okay?!

It’s small. (Love that.) The writing is crispy. (So much love.) It mixes a dash of horror with paranormal things. It uses a bit of mythology, characters I want to root for, and admits that eggs on toast makes a FANTASTIC meal no matter what time of the day. And I like books that glue your eyes to the page while you say, “Oh…what what what…that’s not FAIR…what is happening? STAHP.” I love those.

It was awesome. You should read it. Why are you still here? I’m confused…you should be going to go read it. As for me? I need to find BZRK because that’s the next series of Michael Grant’s I need to start on ASAP.

Thank you Hardie Grant Egmont for this gorgeous specimen. Messenger of Fear by Michael Grant hits shelves September 1st, 2014.

I remembered my name – Mara. But, standing in that ghostly place, faced with the solemn young man in the black coat with silver skulls for buttons, I could recall nothing else about myself. And then the games began. The Messenger sees the darkness in young hearts, and the damage it inflicts upon the world. If they go unpunished, he offers the wicked a game. Win, and they can go free. Lose, and they will live out their greatest fear. But what does any of this have to do with Mara? She is about to find out . .

okay, i’m totally a Michael Grant fan…but do you ever get super excited when a favourite author comes out with new and awesome books?! for me it’s definitely Maggie Stiefvater and Michael Grant. tell me which top-favourite authors do you drop EVERYTHING just to run read their books??

Cait warned you and LOOK. Supernatural gifs are back. (It was a brief hiatus.) Just as she enjoys watching it, she also likes all things supernatural and paranormal in books. It’s probably her most read genre. Currently, she’s thinking about marshmallows in hot chocolate and listening to ROSE UNDER FIRE which will probably break her heart.

Four years ago I read Gone, got horribly freaked out, and rated it 4-stars.

Now, I reread Gone, got horribly freaked and did some serious reminiscing, and rated it 5-stars.

Do you know what this means? YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK. I can’t squeak about it enough, so! Because I like you and I want you to be as bookishly-damaged as me, I’m giving you a list of reasons you need Gone in your life.

Thank you Hardie Grant Egmont Australia for the review-copy! Gone was first published in 2009 and now the special edition is out (with a new and gorgeous cover) from April 1st, 2014.

In the blink of an eye, everyone disappears. Gone. Except for the young. There are teens, but not one single adult. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what’s happened. Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day. It’s a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else…

I like books that just gets in and say what needs to be said. CUT THE FLUFF! Gone does this really well.

Although, I can argue with myself (if I’m so Gollum-ish-ly inclined) that there are too many POVs and sometimes the pace drags. It’s 550-pages. That’s one big book. Chopping a few of the wandering story-lines would have tightened things up.

It. is. horrible. It dives into some seriously gory and freaky subjects. Buuut this is just the prelude. The little glimpse of things to come. YOU’VE SEEN NOTHING TILL YOU READ BOOK #6.

Gone stars some of my favouritest characters of ever. I’ll only talk about a few, but trust me, the character development over the 6-books is phenomenal.

Sam
He’s definitely my favourite. The book’s mostly told from his point-of-view (POV…because that’s the lazy way to write it). He’s unassuming, probably introverted, calm and steady Sam. He gets seriously messed up. BUT he can shoot light out of his hands. As you do.

I’m sure there’s no connection to the Supernatural Sam. Although if Gone-Sam had a Supernatural-Dean…I’M JUST SAYING THINGS WOULD BE BETTER FOR HIM.

Astrid & Little Pete
Families are the best! Astrid is a genius and Little Pete is her 4-year-old autistic brother. It’s so adorable how Astrid will do anything for her brother, even though he hardly responds to her. I love these two! Even if Little Pete is not what he seems and Astrid is a know-it-all!

Caine & Diana
There are the public school kids, and then there are the rich-psycho-private-school-kids. Caine and Diana are the “bad kids”. Caine is controlling (also has telekinesis powers) and Diana is Miss Manipulative.

On a scale of 1 to Pure Evil, these two are dancing around an 8.

Drake
Bully. Creep. I hate him.

Quinn
He’s the most disappointing dude in the series. I think Quinn represents the majority of us. How would YOU handle your world changing into some sort of mutant sphere that you couldn’t escape from, with no rules, and kids with crazy superpowers suddenly vying for world domination? You’d freak. Quinn does.

He’s brought into the picture as Sam’s quirky and confident BFF. But as the book goes on? Quinn is a snivelling worm. It’s sad, his demise, but I think very potent.

The characters are ALL super dimensional, with just a few words. There were POVs I didn’t really care about, but, I’m still in awe how there are SO many characters and they all have personalities with multiple layers. Talent? I think so.

YOU imagine a world without adults. With no one “running” the world. When the oldest person is 14-years-old and not even out of Middle School (or Primary School, as we say in Australia). Things ain’t going to fly well. We live in a high-maintenance society and even adults have mental breakdowns trying to run the world.

Imagine kids doing it.

Imagine already psycho kids doing it.

I still like Sam’s idea of “everyone just have a cookie and calm down”. This kid has brains, I like him.

At the end of book #1 I just want to reach in there and snatch these kids up and give them multiple pieces of pie and not let them go through the horrors and tortures that lead to book, #6: Light.

But then again, out of all 6 books, I think Light is my favourite. We wouldn’t want to miss it, now, would we?

Just…um, just don’t let the Winchesters in to clean up this mess, okay?

Okay, off you pop. Go read it. If I’m going to be emotionally drained and invested in these series, then you should be too. We can be in pain together.

have you read gone? do you like YA horror? yay, nay…and why? you’re not too squeamy are you?! and how do you feel about books with a BILLION narrators?

Cait actually published this post without putting on a bio. HA. She is so smart. But in her defence, she’s been planning a blog party sooo, her attention is somewhere else. She just finished reading Love Letters to the Dead and is now reading The Dream Thieves and saying, “BUT WHAT RONAN? WHAT?” as you do.